Hurricane Frances

[Gonz]

With her still outside the Bahamas comes this

Forecasters said the still-strengthening Category 4 storm could hit on Labor Day weekend as early as Friday night, less than three weeks after Charley raked Florida's western coast with 145 mph wind, causing billions of dollars in damage and killing 27 people.

"I can't emphasize enough how powerful this is. If there's something out there that's going to weaken it, we haven't seen it," National Hurricane Center director Max Mayfield said.

Gov. Jeb Bush declared a state of emergency, activating the National Guard.

 

[Mare]

I was just starting to enjoy FL, but I dont think I'm liking it very much anymore.Forgot about all the hurricanes here.Please pray all it will go away. If I had the $$$ i'd run, can't deal with all the stress that comes before and after...
I'M SCARED PEEPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[MrBishop]

I've got a prayer going out for you, Mare..and all those in Françes' path

 

[SexyBoo]

I'm praying for you Mare - and any others who are falling into that path. I could see us getting a good bunch o'rain, wind and some spin off tornadoes here!

 

[tonksy]

dude...i really hope the roomies keep the cats inside...

 

[Gonz]

Mare, it'll soon be over & you'll have 40 bazillion days of sunshine with passing showers as the rest of the US shivers & freezes & gets snowed in, not forgetting the spring and summer tornadoes & thunderstorms & flooding.

Hunker down, ride it out or move to Arizona. They don't get no rain.

 

[Gonz]

WOW!

 

[Professur]

Ok, I'm just gonna liberalize for a minute. I'll hereby accept any gay marriages held outdoors, in Florida, for the next 2 days.

 

[paul_valaru]

Ok, I'm just gonna liberalize for a minute. I'll hereby accept any gay marriages held outdoors, in Florida, for the next 2 days.

man, right next door to the place where I am hosting the nazi convention?

 

[Gonz]

Sounds fair to me

 

[catocom]

Ok, I'm just gonna liberalize for a minute. I'll hereby accept any gay marriages held outdoors, in Florida, for the next 2 days.

All of FL?
Nooo!
It's got to be on the coast between W-Palm beach, and Daytona.

 

[ResearchMonkey]

I hope someone will get some good DV footage and send me a copy of the dEEstructshuun.

I guess they are planning it coming in slow so the terror/time value is going to be increased as well as the size/area/terror factor.

 

[Sharky]

If you haven't left Miami yet, you are screwed. The Florida Turnpike and Interstate 95 are gridlocked, even with southbound lanes reversed.

The computer models are now showing a projected path across the peninsula and out into the Gulf, then hooking northward. Straight for Panama City.

This morning I test-ran the generator and had the fuel truck come by and deliver 100 gallons of diesel fuel. Got out the chainsaws and sharpened the teeth. Pumped some water from the spring until the tanks were full. Bring it on, Frances.

Mare, this is the first time two major hurricanes have ever struck so close together in south Florida. The odds are in your favor. But right now, you should be thinking about evacuation plans if you haven't already. Frances has the potential to be extremely destructive, even more so than Charley.

 

[Gonz]

How far inland are you Sharky? I'd have ridden Charley out in Tampa. I'd be anxious of Frances in Orlando.

 

[Sharky]

How far inland are you Sharky? I'd have ridden Charley out in Tampa. I'd be anxious of Frances in Orlando.

I live 36 miles inland (near Vernon) north of Panama City Beach. At the very worst we will have trees knocked down, and flooding in low-lying areas from the rain (it could dump 10-20 inches of rain in a very short period). My house is on a hilltop, just above the 90-year flood mark, so I'm not too worried about flooding, but there are several hundred-year-old oaks on my land that I would hate to lose.

Anywhere south of a line from Daytona Beach to Tampa is going to get hammered. If I was within 40 miles from the east coast of Florida south of that line, I would have already gotten the hell out of there by now.

 

[Sharky]

From: AP Report

The hurricane warning covered most of the state's eastern coast, from Florida City, near the state's southern tip, to Flagler Beach, north of Daytona Beach. Forecasters could not say with certainty where Frances would come ashore, just that it would strike late Friday or early Saturday.

About 14.6 million of Florida's 17 million people live in the areas under hurricane watches and warnings.

How in the Sam Hill do you evacuate four. teen. point. six. million. people in 24 hours? You don't.

Residents and tourists streamed inland in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Traffic backed up for miles on sections of Interstate 95, the main north-south highway along the state's east coast, and was also heavy on parts of I-4, which crosses the peninsula to connect Daytona Beach, Orlando and Tampa.

People flocked to airports, hoping to get out before all flights were grounded. Some trudged through long lines at ticket counters only to find their flights had been canceled. Hotels and motels inland filled up, and gas stations ran dry.

Florida rescinded tolls on major roads and said lanes on some highways may be reversed to handle the evacuation traffic. State officials hoped to avoid a repeat of the mess during Hurricane Floyd in 1999, when 1.3 million people were told to evacuate the state's east coast and traffic backed up 30 miles or more.

Frances is as strong as Charley, and twice its size, said Stephen Baig, a forecaster at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Frances is also about twice the size of 1992's Hurricane Andrew, the Category 5 storm that destroyed much of southern Miami-Dade County.

The last time two major storms hit Florida so close together was 54 years ago, when Hurricane Easy hit the Tampa area and Hurricane King struck Miami about six weeks later. Neither storm was as powerful as Charley or Frances.

 

[Gonz]

Imagine how lucky the Dade county & Key residents feel....for once.

 

[Gonz]

For once, this isn't nuts

 

[Mare]

Price gougers beware: they take that very seriously in Florida. In the aftermath of a storm, the state brings in teams from the Florida Division of Consumer Services to monitor pricing, and they will hammer anyone who is caught gouging.

Hurricane Price Gouging

Tell me about it-got a carpenter nail in my tire because all the construction around here and the price to get it fixed is freakin rediculous!!!! WTF

 

[Mare]

You know when I came to FL, I never thought about the hurricanes-and IM NOT LIKING IT VERY MUCH HERE right now.....scary as shit..
I lived part of my life, im worried about my boys!!!!